US president's son Donald Trump Jr. tweet that expressed his shock over discreet ties between CNN and the Qatari regime, rose questions over the credibility of the US channel.
The Conservative Review’s Jordan Schachtel reported that several of the national security experts at CNN have direct links to Qatar. At least four CNN regulars were identified as Qatar-tied propagandists.
The report accused Ali Soufan, the executive director of the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies (QIASS), of having a “personal relationship” with the top leadership of Qatar. According to the Wall Street Journal, Soufan provoked Amazon CEO and Owner of The Washington Post against Saudi Arabia.
CNN regular Mehdi Hasan is a longtime presenter for Al Jazeera.
“When he speaks, he’s no less a government spokesman than Kellyanne Conway or Sarah Sanders,” explained David Reaboi of the Security Studies Group in a Washington Times column last week.
American viewers do not know that Qatar has long promoted the Muslim Brotherhood, funds Hamas, has helped al-Qaeda, and the Taliban fundraising, and is relentlessly hostile to American interests, according to Reaboi.
Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst, is a board member of the International Center for Sport Security (ICSS), a front group controlled by Qatar that is an influence operation to secure and defend Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid.
The leader of ICSS — which again, claims to be a sports-promoting outfit — is Mohammed Hanzab, who has a background as an intelligence and defense specialist in the Qatari military. Hanzab previously served as the president of Ali Soufan’s QIASS.
Unlike the other individuals on this list, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen does not appear to have a direct link to a Qatari state institution, however, he is a regular visitor to Qatar who pushes blatant pro-Qatar agitprop when it comes to Middle East affairs.
CNN has not commented so far on the report.
